PRESS RELEASE
Releasing: 23 April 2018 ONLY ON FLIPKART
20 April, 2018: Puffin India is thrilled to partner with Flipkart and UNESCO New Delhi Cluster Office for the release of a new edition of The Puffin book of Folktales, this World Book and Copyright Day. The book featuring stories by some of the most prestigious authors like Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, Devdutt Pattanaik and Paro Anand brings to life India’s glorious cultural heritage in all its richness, along with generous doses of fun. This low-priced edition has been especially curated for World Book and Copyright Day to make the stories accessible to readers and book lovers everywhere.
Sohini Mitra, Associate Publisher, Puffin (Penguin Random House India) says, ‘In keeping with the ethos of World Book Day which celebrates stories, books and the love for reading, we are delighted to bring to our readers an exquisite collection of folktales by India’s leading authors. The Puffin Book of Folktales features delightful stories and is available in an affordable paperback edition. We are thrilled to be partnering with UNESCO and Flipkart on this wonderful initiative! Our vision is to nurture and spread the joy of reading, and make books and stories accessible to one and all.’
Nishit Garg, Senior Director of General Merchandise, who also heads books at Flipkart says, ‘Books are the most integral and joyful part of growing up. It is in fairytales that we begin to see and chase our first dreams. We are glad to have partnered with Penguin to bring these folk tales book exclusively on Flipkart. We are delighted to be acknowledged by UNESCO for this endeavor. On this World Book Day, we hope to bring every child closer to the world of dreams and possibilities by encouraging them to read.”’
Ms Junhi Han, Sector Head and Programme Specialist for Culture, says “UNESCO is happy to support this wonderful book of folktales. It’s a delightful read for both children and adults. A collection of folktales such as this entertains and fascinates, encourages reading and listening among children, and lets them discover and rediscover India’s rich oral heritage. Penguin’s initiative to price it so reasonable, giving an opportunity to a wide section of people to enjoy the book is highly appreciated.”
About the Book
Ten timeless tales from India’s finest writers
Explore an exciting and beautiful underwater world with Panna. Watch the little blue bird Podna fight a mighty king for his little brown Podni. Join Lord Ganesha on his quest for a pot of kheer. Read about lovelorn Lord Surya pining for his Harshringar, leaving the world in darkness. Help the dove get her egg back.
This is a motley treasury of ten heart-warming folktales by master storytellers Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murty, Devdutt Pattanaik, Kamala Das, Paro Anand and many others, with each author adding their own special touch.
A delightful book, it brings to life India’s glorious cultural heritage in all its richness, along with generous doses of fun. Truly, a collector’s item!
About the Authors
Sudha Murty is a social activist, popular author and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation. She has written many short stories and four books for children. Two of her works, How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories and Grandma’s Bag of Stories, are Puffin bestsellers.
Manjula Padmanabhan is an author, playwright and cartoonist. Her books include Getting There, a quirky travel memoir; Harvest, winner of the 1997 Onassis Prize for theatre; Escape, a dark adventure novel; and two collections featuring her fuzzy-haired comic-strip character Suki.
Paro Anand can’t stop writing, and has written twenty-three books so far, for children, young adults and adults. She is a world record holder for helping children make the World’s Longest Newspaper. She has performed her stories in many places. Her work has been listed on the IBBY Honor List. You can catch her in action at www.avantgardediaries.com and www.paroanand.com.
Musharraf Ali Farooqi is an author, novelist and translator. His children’s fiction includes a picture book, The Cobbler’s Holiday or Why Ants Don’t Wear Shoes, and the collection The Amazing Moustaches of Moochhander the Iron Man and Other Stories. He is also the author of the illustrated novel Rabbit Rap. You can visit him at www.mafarooqi.com.
Devdutt Pattanaik loves to write, illustrate and lecture on the relevance of mythology in modern times. He has, since 1996, written over forty books and 700 columns for adults and children. He believes that stories are like chocolate Eclairs: you chew on the outside-the story-till you get to the soft sweetness inside-the idea. To know more about him, visit www.devdutt.com.
Shashi Deshpande started writing children’s stories for her two young sons. Novelist and short story writer, she is the author of four children’s books and eleven novels, out of which That Long Silence won the Sahitya Akademi Award. Her writing career began in 1970 with short stories, of which several volumes have been published.
Ruskin Bond has written over 500 short stories, essays and novellas, and more than forty books for children. His first novel, The Room on the Roof, was written when he was seventeen. He has received numerous awards, including the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar.
A.K. Ramanujan was an award-winning translator and poet, whose works have been widely published and anthologized. These include, among others, Hymns for the Drowning, Speaking of Siva and Folktales from India.
Meera Uberoi wrote poems and stories for children, including Leadership Secrets from the Mahabharata, Tales from the Panchatantra, Lord Ganesha’s Feast of Laughter and Classic Indian Tales for Children.
Kamala Das was widely known for her poetry, prose and columns, and immensely admired for the sensitivity with which she portrayed human emotions. Panna was her first children’s book in English. Her works include The Sirens, Summer in Calcutta and her autobiography, My Story.
For more information, review copies please email Piya Kapur at Pkapur@penguinrandomhouse.in
